A New York Firm Dedicated to Health Care Law

July 2018 Archives

The government recently accused three physicians out of Long Island for taking part in a health care fraud scheme that cost the Medicare and Medicaid program approximately $163 million in fraudulent charges. The physicians were investigated by many government agencies, including the Justice Department (DOJ), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a settlement between the government and a family of integrated hospitals and health care providers that operate in New York. The settlement includes an agreement to pay the State of New York $895,427 and an additional $14 million to resolve allegations of violation of the False Claims Act.

As noted in the previous piece, Government and health-care fraud, Part 1: Why the crackdown?, the United States government has stepped up its efforts to prosecute those who are accused of health-care fraud. The main motivation for these efforts is money. The government stands to lose billions every year through this form of crime.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced the arrest of hundreds of individuals in the "biggest healthcare fraud take-down in history." The DOJ arrested 601 people from 58 different federal districts for filing $2 billion in false claims.

As noted in the previous post, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently arrested a NY doctor for criminal sale of prescription medications and homicide. The previous piece discussed the investigation and the criminal sale charges, this post will discuss the homicide charges and potential defenses for physicians that face similar charges.

The United States Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently announced the arrest of a New York physician. The agency has accused the physician, an internal medicine and nephrology specialist licensed to practice since 1981, of criminal sale of prescriptions for controlled substances and homicide.

The government recently convicted two brothers of conspiracy to bribe doctors and money laundering crimes. The prosecution stated the brothers used a lab designed to provide medical tests for physicians to commit a complicated scheme. The brothers would provide physicians with kickbacks in the form of cash in exchange for the physicians sending blood samples to their labs for testing. The brothers also admitted to providing fancy meals and private jet trips to the large majority of physicians that used their lab for services.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York has charged a New York physician with health care fraud and submission of false claims for health care matters. The physician provided care for patients who battled opioid addiction.

Radiologists compose approximately 3.6 percent of all physicians in the United States. Even though a relatively small portion of the medical field, radiologists are ranked sixth for medical malpractice lawsuits. Only obstetricians, internists, family physicians, general surgeons and orthopedists face a higher number of allegations of wrongdoing from patients.

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